The "Official" Aurender Discussion Thread

[Mazza]

Ok so it looks like the USB adapter is not going to work for you. So I don’t know why Aurender started to suggest it.

 

Back to swapping out the Ethernet cables. You don’t need anything too fancy just one that’s well made. Personally I use a Cat6 cable off Amazon. You don’t need Cat6 but similar price to Cat5 with some benefits of improved shielding. So why not. Just pick an Amazon one that has lots of good reviews

[edje]

I have a problem with my A10 Aurender. When playing DSD files from my NAS sometimes there is during playback of music a very loud hum in stead of the music. Only solution to stop the hum is to select another track and all is fine then. After some listening the problem occurs again randomly. When I import the same album to the Aurender it does not occur and plays the whole album without problems.

 

Does this sound familliar?

[russellbobby]

I have an A10 and never experienced anything like you mentioned. Sounds like you have something going on between the Nas and the A10 as the local files play properly.

[rwwjr44]

3 hours ago, edje said:

I have a problem with my A10 Aurender. When playing DSD files from my NAS sometimes there is during playback of music a very loud hum in stead of the music. Only solution to stop the hum is to select another track and all is fine then. After some listening the problem occurs again randomly. When I import the same album to the Aurender it does not occur and plays the whole album without problems.

 

Does this sound familliar?

 

Seems that this is a problem with the NAS or connectivity between NAS and your A10. If you have enough disk space on your A10, why not move all of your files there? It is simpler and more reliable. 

[P951C]

There is aan update for the Aurender’s ;-)

[rwwjr44]

New Version Aurender 4(5).15,19 Aurender Conductor 2.9.13
Changes after Aurender 4(5).14.43 & Aurender Conductor 2.9.12 

 

• Conductor now provides notification of a new app version issued

• Improved scanner

  Multiple artist support using ; or | as delimiters

• When using “Add to my library” for streaming content, the sorting of albums featuring various artists will remain singular
  and not in multiple albums by each artist

• Streaming service stability improved with minor bugs fixed

• ACS support improved to include support for up to three connected Aurender units

• Stability improved with minor bugs fixed

[Barbapappa]

Hi guys,

 

been using my setup consisting of Aurender N100 -> X-Sabre Pro -> Lindemann musicbook:50 -> AC Leisure 3 SE MKII's to great content. Since acquiring the Aurender I have been slowing working my way through this informative topic and noticed some mention of the options to disable USB power in the Aurender app. I would like to do so for my N100 since my dac (X-Sabre Pro) doesn't require it, but it seems Aurender have removed this option from the app? Is there still a way to disable USB power? 

 

Thanks

[rwwjr44]

3 hours ago, Barbapappa said:

Hi guys,

 

been using my setup consisting of Aurender N100 -> X-Sabre Pro -> Lindemann musicbook:50 -> AC Leisure 3 SE MKII's to great content. Since acquiring the Aurender I have been slowing working my way through this informative topic and noticed some mention of the options to disable USB power in the Aurender app. I would like to do so for my N100 since my dac (X-Sabre Pro) doesn't require it, but it seems Aurender have removed this option from the app? Is there still a way to disable USB power? 

 

Thanks

 

I don't know of any option but I am not sure that you gain and audio benefits from such a move. There may be a reliability advantage since a very few folks have had problems with  USB port failures. Please note that I am not implying that this would be a "fix" for those failures. I just don't know.

[russellbobby]

That option has been removed for 3 years or so in the N 100 series. 

[Mazza]

5 hours ago, Barbapappa said:

 Is there still a way to disable USB power? 

 

@Barbapapa you cannot do it from the App,

 

You can get the same effect by putting some small pieces of electrical tape over the + & - pins at each end of the USB cable.. or you can carefully open up the sheath of a cheap USB cable and cut the same wires, or make your own..

 

Never tried it myself but AFAICR something simlilar was talked about on one of these forums

[bmichels]

Some USB cable, like the "Curious cable" , can be ordered with or without the 5v connection. 

 

In case of the Curious cable, the "non powered version" just do not have the small orange cable...

 

 

 

[Barbapappa]

On 11/18/2018 at 3:23 PM, rwwjr44 said:

 

I don't know of any option but I am not sure that you gain and audio benefits from such a move. There may be a reliability advantage since a very few folks have had problems with  USB port failures. Please note that I am not implying that this would be a "fix" for those failures. I just don't know.

 

On 11/18/2018 at 3:35 PM, russellbobby said:

That option has been removed for 3 years or so in the N 100 series. 

 

Thanks for the reply's. Good to know I can stop looking in the app and that the option really isn't there (anymore). 

 

On 11/18/2018 at 5:07 PM, Mazza said:

 

@Barbapapa you cannot do it from the App,

 

You can get the same effect by putting some small pieces of electrical tape over the + & - pins at each end of the USB cable.. or you can carefully open up the sheath of a cheap USB cable and cut the same wires, or make your own..

 

Never tried it myself but AFAICR something simlilar was talked about on one of these forums

 

22 hours ago, bmichels said:

Some USB cable, like the "Curious cable" , can be ordered with or without the 5v connection. 

 

In case of the Curious cable, the "non powered version" just do not have the small orange cable...

 

 

 

 

Might have to try one of these type of cables, thanks for the suggestion. 

[russellbobby]

@Ponzi

 

Will the ACS playback cds or just rip them?  Any more info how it stacks up as a Streamer compared to the N10 as Aurender states the “ circuit similar to the N10”

Thanks,

Russ

[Ponzi]

The ASC-10 rips, stores and serves.  It does not function as a CD player.  I cannot answer the question about how similar the ASC-10 circuit is to the N10 circuit.  I continue to use my N10 as the server.  If the ASC-10 is the twin of the N10, but with ripping functionality, then there would be no reason to own the much more expensive N10.  I am assuming -- on faith, mind you -- that the ASC-10 id not the same server the N10 is. 

[russellbobby]

Thanks Ponzi,

That's  what I figured. Not much info out there yet on it.. 

I am enjoying my A10 that I have had now for two years. Aurender stated when it came out it was basically a " N100 w/ a dac". It basically bettered any thing that I had my previous N100S ( SSD) paired with including a top of the line Modwright Tube dac (much) and a first generation Yggydrasil ( little bit) so figured they may have understated the streamer/server portion. The N10 has been out for 3 years and technology evolves.

I am sure we will see a few professional reviews shortly. 

Thanks,

Russ

[Ponzi]

I sure hate to think an $8,000 machine is washed up in only three years.  But I guess that is an eternity in tech world.  FWIW, I think the N10 sounds just lovely.  I would not be without it.  MMC

[Vincent1234]

4 hours ago, Ponzi said:

The ASC-10 rips, stores and serves.  It does not function as a CD player.  I cannot answer the question about how similar the ASC-10 circuit is to the N10 circuit.  I continue to use my N10 as the server.  If the ASC-10 is the twin of the N10, but with ripping functionality, then there would be no reason to own the much more expensive N10.  I am assuming -- on faith, mind you -- that the ASC-10 id not the same server the N10 is. 

I would indeed think it seems rather unlikely that the ASC-10 will deliver the same quality as a server as the N10 does, looking at their respective pricepoints. In comparison the W20 is much older then the N10 but the latter is certainly not up to the same SQ standards as the W20, despite the fact that the N10 is a few years younger.

[The Computer Audiophile]

I wouldn’t consider age being indicative of anything with respect to sound quality. 

[Mazza]

Definitely agree, the w20 which is going on for 4+ years old is yet to be bettered. For eg, I have aTheta CD Player which is 15+ years old IMO is not bettered by anything on the current market. The old adage ‘buy cheap, buy often’ is still valid....quality is never a short option 

[Hyperion]

10 hours ago, Mazza said:

For eg, I have aTheta CD Player which is 15+ years old IMO is not bettered by anything on the current market.

 

Really...? I beg to differ :). The development within this area has been significant.

 

The W20 is still SOTA though, especially if you're taking advantage of the possibility of using an external clock.

 

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se

[mjb]

13 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I wouldn’t consider age being indicative of anything with respect to sound quality. 

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with this on many levels. A couple of reasons perhaps why:

Old today vs. yesterday - components age, capacitors leak, slower decoding, higher noise floor, etc...

New today vs. yesterday - newer tech, shorter signal paths, better decoding, cleaner designs, faster data rates.

[The Computer Audiophile]

4 hours ago, mjb said:

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with this on many levels. A couple of reasons perhaps why:

Old today vs. yesterday - components age, capacitors leak, slower decoding, higher noise floor, etc...

New today vs. yesterday - newer tech, shorter signal paths, better decoding, cleaner designs, faster data rates.

Assuming all the internal conponents are in working order, I disagree with everything you said.

 

Based on first hand experience:

 

Decoding speed has zero to do with sound quality. 

Noise floor has zero to do with age. 

Newer tech has zero to do with sound quality. 

Shorter signal paths have zero to do with the age of a component. 

What is better decoding?

Cleaner design has zero to do with age. 

Faster data rates have zero to do with sound quality. 

[mjb]

@The Computer Audiophile Well, assuming internal components are in working order (which is quite a caveat for some older gear), circuit/chip design has without doubt improved over the years, and one would assume in a good way... 

[ctsooner]

Guys, the reality is that implementation of newer and better materials, knowledge of the various type of jitter along with basic trial and error gives us components that are worlds better than what the past gave us.  It's not even close if you sit and listen in the same system, same room etc... I have some older digital gear still that was considered high end in the 90's and early 2000's.  I have had friends bring their older gear over to hear differences.  

 

I just sold my Ayre QX5/20 digital front end/streamer/DAC.  I've had many top DAC's from 100k down in the system. I"ve recently (a few years) owned an Empirical Audio top end DAC (Steve makes one of the best on the market) along with the Ayre and a few other lesser ones I use for headphone listen at times.  I go to many stores and hear what they have along with my audio buddies.  I like to think that I get out and hear a lot of digital set ups.  I use the Platinum WW ethernet cables and when I use USB, I'm using the Audioquest Diamond cable.  I use an EMO medical filter along with optical isolation at times.  Both work very well and neither take away from the sound.  I use Audioquest Hurricane power cords and the Niagara power conditioner deal.  The cords and Niagara make a WORLD of difference.  Best cables I've had in my system, but I"ll be getting the Enklein and Elrod's in to audition soon.  

 

My system consists of Vandersteen Quatro CT, which to me have sounded better than anything I've auditioned from 30k down.  I use an Ayre AX5/20 with the build in Vandersteen crossover for the speakers (they are semi active).  Speaker cable are AQ Castlerock.  My interconnects are the former top fo the line AQ WEL balanced (their new mystical creatures are AMAZING).  My new Streamer, server and DAC are the Memory Player from Sam Laufer.  This is the link for those who don't know about it.    www.thememoryplayer.net     Mine is a prototype DAC that is getting better and better as they do up grades to get it ready for market.  The Stealth Caps are being shipped as I type.  I use the Hurricane cables on everything.  The music I'm playing as all 24/192 or 32/384 direct from albums or reel to reel. I don't know the A/D converter they used, sorry.  I've used various tweaks, but not too many.  I think my system sounds very good for the price range.  

 

I only share that, because digital is strange. It will sound different in all systems due to mainly power being fed. It's jsut strange that way. There are a few types of jitter than Laufer/Mark use to measure their jitter and they constantly upgrade the software to lower them all.  I have yet to see any other products lower their jitter this much and it shows.  I can actually change the jitter settings and the difference is not subtle.  They also use defragmented slotting for all music.  Makes a HUGE difference...The point is that NOTHING from years past is even close to this.  I loved the Theta in its day.  Most of my favorite dealers sold it.  Just a wonderful product, who's time has past.  

 

If you are being honest with yourself and others, you will go listen to it against the top digital on the market today and hear the difference.  I have done this as there are plenty of Theta's around still.  I have the Krell 64 and stealth DAC's (just sold the 64 and will sell the Stealth). They are still outstanding in so many ways. They really are. I had the Stealth in the system during a gap after selling the Ayre and it amazed me how good it still is vs many of the under 2k DAC's, but overall, it lacks in the highs especially.  Also the noise floor is not as low as the new digital is.  Again, JMHO, but I do audition a ton of gear and have a decent system to audition it on.

[Ponzi]

Thank you for this.  Very interesting.  And a bit daunting.